More than a hundred people were convicted in Belarus in 2020 for political reasons, the Viasna human rights center reported.
Detentions at protests in Minsk
In Belarus, since the beginning of the election campaign in 2020, more than a hundred people have been convicted in criminal cases of a politically motivated nature. Such data were published on Wednesday, January 6, by the Belarusian human rights center Viasna.
“According to the information that we managed to collect, by the end of 2020, at least 103 sentences were issued in criminal cases related to events that took place during and after the presidential elections,” the organization said. Its website states that the total number of criminal cases opened in Belarus since the beginning of the election campaign against participants in the presidential race, activists of their headquarters, as well as participants in peaceful protests that took place after the election campaign, reaches 900. Human rights defenders recognized 166 people from this list as political prisoners.
Under what articles are cases brought against protesters in Belarus?
The most common articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, under which cases are initiated, are articles about mass riots, organization or active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order, resistance to an employee of the internal affairs bodies or another person protecting public order, violence or the threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies and tax evasion.
In addition, in connection with the protests after the presidential elections in the country, several cases were initiated under articles of libel, hooliganism and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.
Protests after the presidential elections in Belarus
Since the day of the presidential elections in Belarus, which took place on August 9, 2020, protests against their official results have not abated in the country, according to which the then head of state Alexander Lukashenko won a landslide victory, gaining about 80 percent of the vote.
Since the end of 2020, protesters in Belarus have changed their tactics, making the main venue for the rallies not the central streets and squares, but the courtyards of their houses.
See also:
Belarusians are for Putin to change Lukashenka. Pavel Latushko
dw.com More Videos SHARE Tweet SHARE SHARE EMAIL What else to see
-
Not only coronavirus: main events 2020
Euronews
Click to Expand Repeat Video
-
Not just coronavirus: major events in 2020 No one has escaped the coronavirus in 2020, but the pandemic was not the only event that shook the world. View on euronews
FOLLOWING
Author: Elena Gunkel
